A Cafe for Singles: Salvation or Humiliation?
by Anne-Marie Helstone
Summary: A NaLu AU based on a gifset on tumblr about a cafe for singles. It involves Natsu, Lucy, and Dan Straight, unwanted situations, very wanted situations, and some plain good ole fashioned down to earth good happiness. Lucy wants away from Dan and a little alone time, and Natsu has questions for her. Is adventure on the horizon?


Lucy was running as quickly as she could, but it didn't seem to make any difference. He was just too fast! Even though she had given up the pretense of civility long ago, dashing madly down the street past shops and cafes and polite-looking, very judgemental people, she still wasn't able to get away from him. It didn't help that her endurance had never been good. Sprinting was all very well and good, but running a marathon? She'd take the bus if she had 26.2 miles to go, thank you very much!

Hey! There was an idea. Maybe she could jump on a bus and get across town from him that way. Gasping for air, Lucy looked frantically for the bus stop she knew was located around here somewhere. There it was. Sweet salvation, tender mercy of- Oh. The bus was just leaving. Her hope pulling away down the road was just too much for her to handle. Her pace slowed to a jog, then a walk, then a hobble, then a defeated stationary slump.

Her strangled cry, muted even more by the hands dragging down her face in frustration, was cut short by a loud voice coming ever nearer. "Sweet Lulu-kins! Darling Loopy-Lu!"

"Hello, Dan," Lucy ground out. Now that running was done, it was time to use strategy. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, seeking an escape.

Dan, not an unattractive man with his maroon hair and big chocolate eyes, came to a stop by her side. "You are so beautiful! And the way you love to keep in shape, even when just running errands, is so inspiring. It's a sign we're perfect for each other!"

"How is that possibly a sign when all I was doing was running away from you?" Lucy asked, starting to walk forward again. May as well seek higher ground, she may find something helpful.

"Obviously it means that we can go for long runs together. You clearly love it, and I love it, too! There's a marathon coming up in a few months. We can do it together!" Dan enthused. "It's made for couples as a fundraiser for giving houses to poor newlyweds."

"Um, I don't think so."

"Loony-Loovey-Lips, don't be so heartless-"

"Sorry, but I don't like-"

"-it's only right to use our love to bless others in need!"

Was it just her, or was the sun's heat bordering on hellish temperatures? Is that where she was? Fire and brimstone and Dan. What torment indeed.

But then, a miracle happened. The sunlight gently illuminated a sign over a recently opened café. The awning proudly proclaimed the name: Single's Restaurant. She'd never been so delighted to see something specifically for single people, or that she herself fell into said category. Lucy could swear the sign was actually glowing with an angelic aura.

"-because our love is enough to water the earth with beauty, sunshine, rain, seeds, and everything else you need to make it a beautiful garden! And-"

Lucy ruthlessly cut into Dan's rambling, gesturing towards the door of the café. "Well, here's my stop, Dan. I gotta go. Hopefully, it'll be a long while before we see each other again." And she turned to enter quickly.

"Ah, but Lulu-tush, we can go together!" Dan protested.

Lucy pointed to the sign, sheer delight beaming from her face. "No can do, buddy. Singles only. We could hardly go on a date here!"

"Huh? But you're not single, you're my-"

"See you!" Lucy dashed into the café, singing praises and hallelujah as she entered the air conditioned haven. _Sweet mercy_ , she sighed as she found a nice place to sit, tucked into a snug little booth in the back corner. It had only one bench to the right of the table. Sitting down, she had a lovely view of a painted screen, full of fanciful designs. The gentle ambiance was a stark contrast to the experience she had just been living.

After placing her order with a very friendly waitress named Mira, Lucy took one more cleansing breath. Running a hand through her long blonde hair, she winced in disgust. All that running had made her sweaty. Not 'glowing' in the ladylike way her mother always had when exerting herself, but full on 'my hair is now wet' sweaty. Lucy could only imagine what her makeup looked like. Hopefully her face wasn't too red anymore.

All she'd wanted today was to go to a nice, quiet café, and have a date with her favorite book, with a little romantic dalliance with her in-progress novel somewhere in the afternoon as well. But instead, Dan Straight had come barreling in like frantic puppy, demanding to be loved and focused on. Only he didn't have the cute qualities that made her humor the puppy's wishes; she could only see the slobber, noise, irritation, and inconvenience. Dan was just annoying. So annoying.

Determined to cheer herself up before she let thoughts of Dan spoil her lunch, Lucy pulled out her book and dissolved into the world printed on its pages. The ability to zone completely and meld with the images flashing in her mind's eye was a thing of beauty to herself, and a bit of a nuisance to her friends and coworkers who tried getting her attention. In situations like this, however, when alone in a café, waiting for her food, it was perfectly blissful.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard some rather loud debating happening.

"-but I don't wanna sit in that corner, Mira."

"But it's so much nicer over here-"

"I always sit in that corner-"

"It's good to try out new things every now and then-"

Fortunately, the voices were silenced before too long. Lucy figured the new atmosphere must be hurting her skills in zoning out. Normally she wouldn't hear things like that when she was so absorbed in a book.

After a few more minutes, the waitress came back with her steaming plate of food. "Here are your broth bowl with soba noodles and your fresh fruit," said the white-haired beauty.

Taking a deep breath to fully appreciate the smells, Lucy gave Mira a large smile. "Thank you!"

"Enjoy! And please feel free to use our device here to signal for more service if you need anything."

That's when Lucy noticed the tablet stuck the booth's wall. It had the café's logo on it, nothing else, so Lucy didn't feel all that intrigued by the item. She ate at a leisurely pace, savoring each bite, even allowing herself to noisily slurp the noodles like she was forbidden to as a child. There was something immensely satisfying about slurping noodles. Either the rebelliousness or the action itself made the noodles taste even better.

A _ping_ caught her attention halfway through a slurp. Noodles still hanging from her mouth into her bowl, Lucy looked up. There was a question on the tablet.

"Are you enjoying your meal?"

There were two options. "Yes" and "No."

Lucy tapped "Yes" with her middle finger, and started sucking the noodles further into her mouth. These were some tasty noodles, and she was more than willing to compliment the chef. A second _ping_ interrupted her, and she stopped in the same position as the previous time.

"Would you like to share your meal with a new friend?"

The options reappeared. No. No way. There was no way Lucy wanted anything to do with the human race right now. Not the way she was looking, not the way was feeling, not the way she was eating.

Before she could reach the tablet to tap the "NO" with fantastic emphasis, the pretty screen in front of her raised up to reveal another person sitting opposite of her. She blinked. He blinked. She blinked some more. He was pretty attractive, even if he did have noodles coming out of his mouth and extending down into his bowl. Wait. How did she look right now? Noodles out of her mouth, head ducked low over her bowl, right arm extended in a wonky chicken-wing sort of shape trying to reach the tablet, not to mention her sweaty hair. She must look so-

"You look pretty weird, you know that?" the man across from her said after sucking his noodles into his mouth.

Lucy would have dropped open her mouth in shock, but she was too well-bred for such behavior. Instead, she genteelly finished eating her noodles, then sat up and used her napkin to pat her lips gently.

"Well, you would too, if you had just run a marathon," her mouth said. Lucy pursed her lips and looked down. That was hardly the response she'd meant to give. She was going to play the part of sophisticated grace; confident as she was in her beauty and manners, she knew she rise above that first image she'd presented.

"You just ran a marathon? That's pretty cool, I guess," the man replied, taking a large gulp of his drink.

She self-consciously brushed her fingers through her hair, gathering it up to make a high ponytail in an attempt to smooth the damage. "Does it look like I did?" she demanded.

"You're the one that said you did, weirdo," the man reminded her while continuing his meal.

Lucy took the opportunity to study her new meal companion. He looked to be about her age, and muscular. She could tell by the biceps and forearms generously showed off by his short-sleeved shirt. When he looked at her, she took in his dark eyes, sharp and overflowing with life. But while she took in his eyes, she was taken by his rose-colored hair.

"Your hair is my favorite shade of pink," Lucy said intelligently.

The man paused, mouth wide in preparation to receive another humongous bite. "You gonna call me girly next?"

"Nah, you know what they say," Lucy brushed off what was apparently a touchy subject for him. "'Real men wear pink.'"

And then he smiled. No, not smiled. Grinned. And it was wonderful. What a grin he had! Especially now that there was no food in his mouth! Lucy felt her heart patter a little in response. "You know," he said, "you're not so bad, weirdo. You should tell Gray that about pink. That'll show him."

"Show him what?"

"That a girl doesn't mind my hair color."

"I don't mind it at all," Lucy said honestly.

"The name's Natsu, by the way."

"I'm Lucy."

"So you gonna tell me why you lied about that marathon, Luigi?"

Lucy twitched. Just when she thought they were bonding over his hair color… "For your information, not everyone thinks I'm a weirdo. Some people think I'm a desirable woman, so much so they chase me across town despite the fact I'm wholly disinterested in them. Some people don't know when to back down and let a girl have some peace. Some other people are overly flirtatious and obnoxious with their romantic overtures, but then turn and make eyes at any pretty girl walking by. And guess what? I'm not a weirdo. I'm a normal girl, perfectly normal-"

"So why don't you wanna make new friends?" Natsu interjected.

"What? I have friends. Normal doesn't mean needing to constantly make new friends, it means-"

"Is that why you didn't push 'yes'?"

"Who said I wasn't going to push it? The screen opened before I could respond."

"The look on your face was answer enough."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you weren't ready for someone to come meet you."

"Even if I had pushed 'yes' before you, it's not like I'd expect the wall to move and show some dude in front of me. That's hardly normal."

"And neither are you, weirdo."

"I'm not a weirdo! I've had a lousy day so far, and I just wanted some peace. There was this guy who just wouldn't leave me alone, and I just wanted some peace. Is that too much to ask for?"

This whole conversation had taken place while Natsu ate and Lucy got angry. With her last question, Lucy picked up her utensil and started poking at her remaining noodles. She'd lost her appetite.

"You gonna eat that?" Natsu asked.

With a disgruntled noise, Lucy just handed him the bowl. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah, two actually."

"Well?"

"First, did that guy earlier do anything to hurt you?"

She thought he was just joking at first, but his eyes were completely serious. He really wanted to know, and he looked like he would get mad if the answer wasn't what he wanted to hear. The blonde decided to respond honestly. "No, he didn't. He was just annoying."

"Good." Natsu visibly relaxed at her response. "You know, if you have so many problems with people, you should take some sort of defense classes, martial arts or something."

Lucy hesitated, then replied, "Well, to be honest, I have taken a bit, but not very much. Probably not enough to do anything, really. But I want to do more. I'm really interested in Aikido because it's not aggressive, but more peaceful. I think I could do that. There's a really nice dojo I've heard of that I really want to join, but- Oh, I should probably mention a 'dojo' is a place where you can learn martial arts. Some of them are dedicated to one particular type of martial art, others will teach multiple forms. But there's one I've heard about, and it sounds wonderful. Chaotic, yes, but wonderful."

Natsu didn't seem all that interested in their conversation, or, the way things were actually going, in Lucy's ranting. He was more fascinated by her noodles, which he was making quick work of while she went on. Realizing she had stopped talking, he mumbled out, "Oh yeah? What's it called?"

"Fairy Tail. I love that name. It's like a promise, don't you think? A promise and a question all at the same time. It's promising that you can become stronger through dedicated work and practice and effort, and through getting stronger, you can finally go on those adventures you've always been dreaming of, but have been unattainable because of your limitations. A promise for adventure, just like a fairy tale. And it's a question because of the spelling. Question what's around you, what you take for granted. Do fairies have tails? Am I what others expect? Are others what I expect? And what difference do these questions make? You know?"

"And that leads to my second question. If you're so lonely, why don't you want to make any new friends?"

That caught her completely off guard. Lonely? Well, she certainly had no close friends, no one in whom she could confide. And since her mother's passing, she hadn't exactly had the most pleasant relationship with her father. But to have a stranger call her out on it? That was a little…

"I'm not… Who said I was lonely… I just…" Lucy spluttered.

"It just seems like you're lonely. You should try making friends."

Lucy was done being confronted with her own lack of friends, and overabundance of annoying, attractive males. She pulled out her wallet, and took out some cash. "It looks like you got the same meal as me. Here's enough to cover it, the drinks, and a tip. Have a nice day."

And she grabbed her book and left. It wasn't as smooth an exit as she had hoped, since she was fighting with her bag in an attempt to put her book away, but still, it was an exit with a statement. There was clattering silverware behind her, so she turned to see… and wished she hadn't.

Natsu was waving excitedly, trying to stand up in the booth but unable to straighten his legs due to being stopped by the table, and shouting, "Thanks for the meal, Luigi! You're a real pal!"

The blonde just gave a wan smile, trying to ignore the stares of all the other patrons. "No problem. Enjoy. Please stop." She decided to leave for good this time, without any backwards glances.

Stepping outside, she chuckled. Not that long ago, she had entered this little café with a great sigh of relief. Now she was leaving with the exact same sentiment. Oh, well. Time to go home. Perhaps the rest of her Saturday would be better spent with Netflix and/or some good books and a pint of ice cream.

"Loopy-Lu! You've come back to me!" Dan cried, throwing his arms around Lucy and squashing her in a violent hug.

 _Great_ , Lucy thought from her place, face flattened against Dan's chest. _I didn't even make it five yards down the street before this popped back up._

"Dan, let go," Lucy said. When he didn't let go, only began rubbing his cheek against her hair and mumbling sweet nothings, Lucy put her hand on his chest and pushed. "Dan, let me go." But she wasn't as strong as he was, and she didn't budge an inch.

"Don't you know, Lulula? I'll never let you go, never give up on you! We're meant for each other!"

"No, we're not. Now let go!" Lucy pushed harder.

In a series of movements she didn't understand, Lucy felt herself pulled out of Dan's grasp and set behind a warm wall of muscle, while Dan's arm was twisted behind his back. Looking up, Lucy saw pink hair. Natsu?

"What the heck, man?" Dan demanded.

"If a girl says 'let go,' then you let go. Got it?" Natsu growled. When Dan didn't respond, Natsu twisted his arm harder. "Well?"

"Got it!" Dan hollered. As soon as Natsu let go, however, Dan rushed him. "Sucker! I'm a master at martial arts!"

And he was, Lucy knew. She cried out, "Natsu! Watch out, he's-"

But before Lucy could even finish her sentence, Natsu's body was moving, dodging Dan's attacks, and dealing out one well-placed punch to the jaw, and a stomp on Dan's instep. Dan went down like a sack of potatoes. Natsu simply brushed his hands off, and smiled down at his opponent.

"You're not too bad," he conceded. "Come by the dojo if you want a friendly spar sometime."

Dan just nodded in a daze. Lucy wondered what a real sparring match would look like between these two. A patrolling cop called out, "What's going on over there, you lot?"

"Whoops. Not again. Gramps will kill me!" Natsu grimaced. "Well, I guess we gotta make a run for it. C'mon, Lucy!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down the street in the opposite direction from Dan and the cop.

Lucy was not accustomed to running from the law. "Wait! Where are we going?"

Natsu turned his head to grin that grin at her, never breaking his stride. "Didn't you say you wanted to go to Fairy Tail? So let's go!"

The smile that broke across Lucy's face was the most sincere smile that could remember in a very long while. Fairy Tail? Natsu's right sleeve had been pushed up, and Lucy saw Fairy Tail's emblem proudly standing out in red. Fairy Tail. She was going. She could become stronger. She could ask questions. She could, just maybe, make friends.

She laughed. "Alright!"

 **Dear Friends,**

 **This is just a little AU drabble I choked up. It's not edited or anything. It's inspired by a gifset on tumblr. To see it, just go over to my tumblr, or look up the Korean restaurant for singles thing online.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


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